''El Comercio'' is a Peruvian newspaper based in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, RÃmac River, RÃmac and LurÃn Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
. Founded in 1839, it is the oldest newspaper in Peru and one of the oldest
Spanish-language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
papers in the world. It has a daily circulation of more than 120,000. It is one of the most influential media in Peru.
History
![El Comercio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/El_Comercio.JPG)
The military dictatorship of
Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16, 1910 – December 24, 1977) was a Peruvian general who served as the President of Peru after a successful coup d'état against Fernando Belaúnde's presidency in 1968. Under his presidency, nationalism ...
expropriated the newspaper in the mid-1970s. The company was returned to their original owners by President
Fernando Belaúnde Terry
Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
on 28 July 1980, the same day he assumed office. It was his first official act upon assuming his presidency.
The newspaper is owned by shareholders of the Miró Quesada family, whose ownership of the company dates to 1875. Despite this, management is under control of an individual who is not a member of the family.
The company has ownership over its subsidiaries, the newspapers ''
Peru 21'' and ''Trome'', and the magazine ''Somos''.
The corporation, Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A., is the product of the merging of many companies in 1996. The company manages the editing, publication, and distribution of the newspaper, ''El Comercio'', as well as the publication and distribution of ''Trome'', ''Peru 21'', and ''Gestion''. In addition, they manage the advertising aspects of the mentioned publications. Additionally, they are devoted to the editing, publication, and distribution of many other books, magazines,
pamphlets
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...
, weeklies, all sorts of
graphic publications,
Multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
products, and
videography
Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...
. Informational content is distributed by their subsidiary Orbis Ventures S.A.C., a company in charge of the administration of the company's website.
The legal address of the company, where their administrative offices were in 300 Jr. Santa Rosa,
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, RÃmac River, RÃmac and LurÃn Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
, Lima, Peru. Their publishing factories, Pando and Amauta, are in the districts of
Pueblo Libre
Pueblo Libre (originally called La Magdalena or Old Magdalena to differentiate it from Magdalena del Mar District) is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. Its name, which means ''Free Town'' or ''Free People'', was granted by José de San Martà ...
and the
Cercado of Lima.
The new legal address is in 171 Av. Jorge Salazar Araoz,
La Victoria, Lima.
Financially, the company operates very independently, as the effects of consolidation have not in large part affected the operation of their subsidiaries, Orbis Ventures S.A.C., Zetta Comunicadores del Perú S.A.E.M.A., EC Jobs S.A.C., Punto y Coma Editores S.A.C., Suscripciones Integrales S.A.C., Amauta Impressiones Comerciales, Producciones Cantabria S.A.C., Inmobiliaria El Sol S.A. and
Grupo PluralTV.
Team of Ricardo Uceda
In 1994, Ricardo Uceda resigned as editor-in-chief of ''
SÃ'' to form a special investigative team at ''El Comercio''.
As with Uceda's ''SÃ'' reporting, the ''Comercio'' team focused on cases of governmental corruption.
One their most notable successes came in 1998, when they exposed the misuse of state funds intended for the survivors of floods and mudslides induced by the
1997-98 El Niño event; the story resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of Civil Defense Chief General
Homero Nureña.
Political alignment
Its editorial principles defend
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
. It can be said that his ideological position is
center-right.
See also
*
List of newspapers in Peru
This is a list of newspapers in Peru.
List of newspapers
*'' Ajá'' - Lima
*
*'' El Bocón'' - Lima; owned by conglomerate El Comercio Group
*'' El Chino'' - Lima
*'' El Comercio'' - Lima; owned by conglomerate El Comercio Group
*'
*'' Cronica ...
*
Media of Peru
The mass media in Peru includes a variety of different types of media, including television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based web sites. Much of the print-based media in Peru is over a century old, with some newspapers even ...
*
América Televisión
América Televisión is a Peruvian television network, founded in 1958. The network is owned by Plural TV, which is a joint venture of the '' El Comercio'' and ''La República'' daily newspapers. It was the second television channel to be fou ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comercio
Newspapers published in Peru
Spanish-language newspapers
Newspapers established in 1839
Mass media in Lima
1839 establishments in Peru